By Jeffrey Swartz
Professor, Cooley Law
Do not applaud Judge Aileen Cannon on Donald Trump’s document trial that could begin as early as May 20 with a pretrial hearing in the case being held on May 14.
The date fits nicely after the primaries are over and close enough to the Republican National Convention (starting July 15, 2024) that Trump will request a continuance to prepare for that event. It is also late enough that she hopes one of the other cases, including the new federal indictment coming by the end of the month, will be tried and Trump sentenced (assuming a guilty verdict in something). All that so she does not have to go first on anything.
Admittedly Judge Cannon set a short date for resolution of the Government’s motion for a Protective Order under Section 3 of the Classified Information Procedures Act which, if granted, would prevent defense counsel from disclosing classified information that is provided to them by the prosecution to their clients. That order is subject to appeal by either side but should not affect the remainder of her scheduling order.
All that is left open is the question: does she have the ability to stand up to the onslaught of delay requests that will come from Trump’s lawyers and stand firm (as all other SDFL judges do) and enforce her deadlines? We will see what we will see.
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Professor Jeffrey Swartz, a former Miami-Dade judge, served as a prosecutor in Ohio and as Assistant State Attorney for the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida (Miami-Dade County). Professor Swartz later entered private practice as a criminal defense attorney. In 1994 Professor Swartz was elected to serve as a County Court Judge in Miami-Dade County. Professor Swartz has participated in appeals and oral arguments before the Ohio Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the First, Third and Fourth District Courts of Appeal of Florida.
